Wadsworth Improvement Project

Project Update

On March 9, 2018 the City of Wheat Ridge hosted four "Block by Block" meetings for business and property owners in the Wadsworth Boulevard Widening project area. Over 70 property and business owners participated in the four meetings, where the City shared the latest project updates including access plans, possible property impacts, schedule updates, ideas about eventual construction phasing, and the most current roadway design. These discussions also gave the City a chance to gather additional feedback from property and business owners prior to finalizing the Environmental Assessment for the project.

The City also shared the revised design around potentially historic properties and access changes near 38th and 44th. After the meetings, the schedule was further updated to accommodate the additional approvals necessary due to the impacts to the potentially historical properties on the corridor. The new schedule for finalizing the Environmental Assessment and moving into construction is below:

EA finalization: Summer 2019

Right-of-Way Acquisition Process: Summer 2019 - Spring 2020

Construction: 2020-2022

Meeting materials and the most current designs that were shared at the meetings are available for review at the links below.

Wadsworth Environmental Assessment

In April 2016, the City of Wheat Ridge initiated an Environmental Assessment (EA) study and Access Management review for the widening of Wadsworth Boulevard. The study will review environmental impacts associated with transportation improvements planned for Wadsworth between 35th Avenue and I-70.

The EA will be Phase 1 of a three-part project to prepare for the widening of Wadsworth Boulevard, with construction projected to begin in 2019. This work builds off of a Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) study for Wadsworth that was completed in 2015 with input from the local community. The major components of the proposed project are to reconstruct the street to a 6-lane section; provide better bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facilities; manage driveway access to the street; and provide enhanced amenity zones along the corridor, particularly in the City Center section between W. 38th and W. 44th Avenues.

Proposed Design

During the early stages of the EA for the Wadsworth Widening project, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) voiced concern over the number of signalized intersections described in the original 2015 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study, which was intended to be the design basis for the EA.

This concern led the City to consider alternative design options for the corridor to better align the goals of the City with the needs of CDOT. Of the designs considered, a simple version of a Continuous Flow Intersection for both 38th and 44th Avenues seems to meet CDOT and the City’s objectives best by helping to reduce congestion while improving the corridor’s ability to serve drivers, bikes, pedestrians, and transit. CFIs are innovative intersection designs that are increasingly being used around the country. In Colorado they can be found in Durango, Loveland, and will soon be built in both Douglas and Arapahoe Counties. To see how a CFI would work at 38th and Wadsworth, please watch the video below.

Layout of the CFI designs being considered for intersections of Wadsworth and 38th & 44th Avenues. CFIs can help improve traffic flow and reduce congestion by 30-70%.